the SIMMER blog

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I've been enjoying tracking traffic on the blog via Google Analytics, seeing where visitors are coming from. In general, they're the places you might expect -- New York, Los Angeles, and thanks to friends and family, the Midwest. But what's more interesting than where you're from is how you got here.

Google search phrases leading folks to the SIMMER blog in the past month: "simmer jael", "jael simmer", "simmer blog", "simmer by jael mchenry", that sort of thing, yes, that's expected. Welcome. You have found what you're looking for.

"boy go simmer sky" and "college essay party blogspot"? Less so. You, I can't help.

"wine in car all day"? Honey, I've got bad news for you. Depending on temperature and sunlight, it might still be drinkable, but it might not. Don't serve it to guests.

Next month, we'll see what else turns up.

 

wordless wednesday xxv

 
  
  

an a for effort

When I talk to people about cooking or baking at home, I often hear this: "Well, I'm just not good at that stuff." Which, well, is where we all start out. You learn as you go. In making one of my first batches of cookies, I misread a TEASPOON of baking powder as a CUP, and boy those were some puffy -- and inedibly bitter -- Christmas-tree-shaped Spritz.

My advice? Just keep trying. Because things never turn out perfect. But if you're making things for other people, they're always going to appreciate the effort. If you present your family or friends or co-workers with home-baked cookies, are they going to critique the batch? Say, "Hm, this really tastes like you didn't cream the sugar and butter together correctly?" Or are they going to say "Thanks!"

(Generally, it's "thanks!")

And in the never-turning-out-perfect department, here's a batch of cookies that... sure didn't. I was playing with a new cookie press. I'd tweaked the dough a little, adding brown sugar instead of white. I'd beaten the butter in cold instead of softening it first. The dough was stiff, stiff, stiff. Instead of letting it rest, I blazed through. Voila the misshapen results:

(they're supposed to be camels.)

They didn't look great, but they tasted fine -- better than fine, even -- and they were much appreciated. So if you're just starting out, don't be self-conscious. Know your audience.

And read the recipe carefully. Because cookies never have a CUP of baking powder in them on purpose. Which is something I know now, but it's something I had to learn.

sweet fancy cheeses! a photo essay

Tonight I'm going to a Cheese 101 class. Mmmm, cheese. Maybe 101 is too introductory, but hey, just because I love to consume the stuff doesn't mean I know the true basics. Leaving that to the professionals at Tria.

I do know this: if you aren't sure exactly how many people are coming to your party and you don't want to drown in leftovers nor leave your latecoming guests staring at empty plates, cheese is the ultimate buffer.

(have a few different kinds, either themed or a variety. sometimes the variety is called "what's on sale at DiBruno's")

Once you have the cheese, the only other thing you need is Stuff To Put the Cheese On.

 

(Big Wheat Thins are great; substantial but not overwhelming; bargain-priced)

  

 

(bagel chips are also great, if only because I love them so much and "they were left over from the party! I had to eat them!" is an evergreen excuse)

  

 

(baguette is, of course, the classic)

Okay, okay. Maybe there's a little more that can be said about choosing a variety, making sure you have enough difference between cheeses that balance each other. And maybe tonight at Cheese 101 I will learn more descriptive, precise terms other than: 

 

wordless wednesday xxiv

gallery and garbanzos

First off, it's official! Here's yesterday's announcement in Publishers Weekly, and my part therein:

Gallery Gets off the Ground

In one of the first hardcover acquisitions for Simon & Schuster's newly formed Gallery Books, executive editor Lauren McKenna bought world English rights to Simmer by Jael McHenry. It's the story of a socially awkward, 20-something woman who, after the deaths of her parents, finds that she can invoke ghosts by cooking from dead people's recipes—and that her happiness might just depend on a bowl of bread soup and a batch of Scottish shortbread. Elisabeth Weed at Weed Literary handled the pre-empt deal. 

(yay!)

In food news, things have been a tad hectic and I don't have any elaborate dinnerings to share with you at this moment. However, the desire for healthy/easy snack options has led us to experiment with Roasted Chickpeas (aka Garbanzos), courtesy of the South Beach Cookbook.

And they're awesome.

Chickpeas + heat + time. No oil, even. I did add a little salt. But all you have to do is toss chickpeas on a baking sheet and leave them in a 350-degree oven for 50 minutes or so. Mine still had a little moisture at the center after 50 minutes, so they probably wouldn't keep well on the countertop, but that's kind of moot since the two of us in the house demolished the equivalent of a can's worth without even trying.

If you have an addictive personality and a snack-heavy eating style, as I do, there are a lot worse things to snack on.

(no picture; they start off looking like chickpeas, and end up looking like slightly darker, slightly smaller chickpeas)

 

a date update

Just the briefest of posts today -- SO much going on -- but we have a pub date, or at least a pub season, for SIMMER:

Spring 2011.

(yes, that seems very far away; yes, it's necessary and normal, and next week I'll explain why)

wordless wednesday xxiii

food and family: a photo essay

Today I'm participating in a mass blogging! WOW! Women on Writing has gathered a group of blogging buddies to write about family relationships. Why family relationships? We're celebrating the release of Therese Walsh's debut novel today. The Last Will of Moira Leahy (Random House, October 13, 2009) is about a mysterious journey that helps a woman learn more about herself and her twin, whom she lost when they were teenagers. Visit the Muffin www.wow-womenonwriting.com/blog.html to read what Therese has to say about family relationships and view the list of all my blogging buddies. And make sure you visit www.theresewalsh.com to find out more about the author.

  

I'd know nothing about cooking if it weren't for my family. My mother and grandmother are wonderful cooks, and so was my great-grandmother Ada. The Rickard branch of the family is English -- Cornish, specifically, but pasties are a dish for another day -- and so we know how to get good and festive with our afternoon tea.

(take out the good stuff -- Azalea pattern, lovely lovely)

 

(even -- or especially -- the unusual pieces, like the powdered sugar shaker at right)

 

(scones from scratch)

break out the champagne!

As the kids on the internets say, w00t! I am extremely pleased to announced that SIMMER has sold, and I now have an editor and a house and an imprint and a deal for World English rights and all that jazz.

(And a hundred-dollar peppermill, but that's a story for another day.)

Buckle up, my fellow foodies. There's gonna be a lot going on around here. And it's going to be AWESOME.